Tina's Flies

[BrokenolMarine]

To say Tina's a gifted tyer is an understatement. I asked her to tie me a mouse to fish for the monster bass at the pond. She calls this a pond mouse, and she ties it on a 2/0 and a 3/0 hook. We need those monster hooks to bust those old bass in the tough mouths. We hook em, take their portraits, then release them to make more bass.



Same with her hopper. Big baits produce big bass. Same 2/0 hooks on a 3" grass hopper. Boom, big bass.



Throw the hopper, quick short strips and it... hops. Hard strips and it, pops. Either way, it will drive the bass so crazy they will come OVER the hopper and attack it from the top.

[BrokenolMarine]

The top picture was taken by a photographer from our friends at our kayak distributor. Appomatox River Company. We have been buying kayaks and gear from them for decades. Great folks, we do demos and static displays for them because of the way they treat their customers. We get nothing in return other than great customer service. They sell nation wide. http://www.paddleva.com



Here we have a static display set up for our Charity when they were one of our Anchor Sponsors, the first to step up and ask what we needed for the VETS. Great folks to deal with.

[RanchRoper]

Great photos. Nice fish!!

[daytime dave]

Very nice tying.

[Bugs]

You using a 9 WT to cast those mouse flies?

[Les]

Miss Tina sure is one very talented lady!

[tx gunrunner]

Miss Tina sure is one very talented lady!

If she can clean and cook them fish and has a big bass boat she would be the perfect lady for us fisherman .....

[Les]

If she can clean and cook them fish and has a big bass boat she would be the perfect lady for us fisherman .....

You forgot the Henry rifles and the cabin on the lake.

[BrokenolMarine]

You using a 9 WT to cast those mouse flies?

I cast them with a 6 or 7 wt depending on where we are fishing. It's not so much the mouse, or the hopper for that matter, but the expected size of the return. Fishing anywhere but one of our two special farm ponds... I throw the six. Fishing the farm pond where there is a chance of bass in the 27 to 28 inch range, tipping the scales in the ten to twelve pounds... I like to go with the seven.

I also throw the seven on the upper James, where instead of smallmouth hammering the mouse there is a chance of it being taken by a four foot gar. That... it an exciting hookup in a kayak.

[BrokenolMarine]

Miss Tina sure is one very talented lady!

If she can clean and cook them fish and has a big bass boat she would be the perfect lady for us fisherman .....

Funny thing, Miss T could have that bass boat if she really wanted it. We have two Wilderness Systems Commanders, and a pair of Ride 115s, the kayaks do what we need done, for now. As I have posted before, if the bite is off, you still had a nice paddle, and I usually get some nice pics.

[tx gunrunner]

I when lived in Az 1993 and I was fishing in a very small pond [ 25 X 50 yds ] using a #6 weight fly rod casting a Black Ant and was fishing for Blue gills when a 10 lbs Channel Cat nailed the ant .. I took me almost 3/4 of a hour to get him in and on the bank . We took a few pics , the ant was so small you could not see it in the pic on his lip and yes we put him back . There must been 100 fisherman around that pond everyday for the next 2 month and no one ever fished there before .

[BrokenolMarine]

The farm ponds are located in the middle of a large black angus cattle farm, and T has known the owners since she was a little girl known to everyone as "bug." Lol. This pond used to contain monster bass... but the non-resident owner hired a new resident farm manager about six or seven years ago. The manager is allowed to live on the back of the farm in a small two bedroom house. Cisco, his wife and two kids moved in. In less than a month, he had moved in his teenaged sister, ten year old brother, mom, dad, and grandparents.

When we fished the farm ponds, it was catch, photo, and release. They had a large family to feed, so they ate everything they pulled from the pond. Including the monster bass that were making lots of baby bass. The owner would visit several times a year to check on the Angus breeding program... staying in the Big house. When he fished the pond and didn't get a single bite, he wasn't happy. Cisco was banned from fishing the ponds.

[JNG3]

Fantastic work. Thanks for sharing!

[BrokenolMarine]

Happy to report we fished the farm pond last Sunday. I was able to boat a half dozen bass, the largest two were 16 and 20 inches. I also put a half dozen crappie in the kayak, but they were just palm sized. We will have to head back over with the cameras... no pics this time... sorry.